18th Rose
by Lakrahe
Summary: Annabeth is turning eighteen, and she hates it. Why? She has a long list. Witness her party and a surprise waiting to be revealed! Guess who? Yes, you are correct. It is him!


This is my second one-shot, but first PJ one-shot.  
Author notes at the bottom of the page. This story has been inspired from real life. Well, the part of the dancing only. It was romantic though! How can I not resist such beautiful inspiration?

Enjoy! I do not own PERCY&his friends. Or the songs

~Lakrahe

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Debut. Have you ever been to a debut party? Or, have you ever thrown one before? When a girl reaches eighteen, that is the biggest turning point in her life. She is a young adult, one who is ready to bloom to the real world.

In reaching this age, Fredrick Chase, accompanied by his partner Athena, they will throw a grand party for their daughter. The only thing that is contradicting to this matter is that their adolescent refuses the offer.

**Weeks** before the day of celebration, Annabeth constantly protests to their want to celebrate in this extravagant way.

"Why can't we just have a nice dinner? You, me, mom and Luke."

"You're mother made it clear. We are having a party," her father smiled at her.

Why Annabeth doesn't like a party?

This is her list(there are more, but it will consume a lot):

1. Long uncomfortable sexy gown - According to her father, it doesn't have to be sexy, but she is still required to wear such dread.

2. Thinking that no one will come - A little paranoid? It might be. But her father assured her that even in the busiest month, as long as those people care for you, they will surely attend.

3. Preparations - the most stressing part. Decor, invitations, food, technicalities, venue and more! It is self explanatory.

4. Expenses - "Daughter, I told you, I will take care of every single expense in this celebration." Her mother, Athena, said in a professional tone: strict and stern, but smooth.

**Days **before the event, Annabeth can not concentrate on her studies, even though she doesn't, she still gets high grades. She has been worrying if her friends will come since the exams are approaching soon.

"Annabeth, we would not miss your day!" Cried an assuring Thalia. Annabeth just smiled at her, she knew that her best friend will come no matter what. Then, she turned to her other friends.

"Of course I will come!" Grover, his other boy best friend, placed his arm around her like a little sister.

"Do not forget me," Luke, her guy friend and crush, gave a toothy grin at her. Obviously, Annabeth blushed at this.

"You promise?" she muttered rather shyly. Luke, in return, nodded. After that, she was relieved to know he will come. Even though it was the final championship games for football.

**THE EVENT**

Annabeth was greeted with a great number of people as the double doors opened in front of her. "Happy Birthday!" They all greeted and she laughed. She blushed as her father escorted her to her stage. On that view, she saw her friends, mostly from her camp, several friends from school, a few teachers(Annabeth was admired by her professors and mentors, because of her logical and high intellect), and some relatives. Annabeth was overwhelmed by their presence but she was looking for one particular, sandy-haired guy. _He will come,_ she encouraged herself.

"My dear Annabeth, you are a wonderful lady: smart and wise. No words can describe how great you are as a person and a daughter to me. I wish you all the best, not wish, cause I know you can achieve them. You will do just as fine." Her mom made a speech before the great event formally starts.

Let's skip to the main events of the program.

Candles/Wishes/Messages:

Thaila: (took the mic from the EMCEE harshly, like she was the boss) "Annie! please be less smart. It is hard arguing with you, but I still love you if you don't. I love you, Annabeth! Happy Birthday!" *tackled Annabeth with a hug.

Silena: "Annabeth, you are a young adult...I do hope you will find true love soon." *giggles

Clarisse: "You may be smart but I can still beat you up. Improve your strength, girl. And if you can't really fight, just call me. I will beat them up for you. That's all I wish for you. Happy birthday."

Katie: "I grew these flowers at home. *gives a giant bouquet* Stay pretty and smart!"

Bianca: "I know we hadn't talk as much as your other friends do, but I really admire your wits. Stay the same and if you hold a grudge against a person, let it go."

Rachel: "Hey, Annabeth. Stay awesome as you are. I made you this shirt. It is inspired by Art Nouveau. Love you!"

Piper: "You are scary when you are angry, so be more patient and humble. Nevertheless, you are still a good friend. Thanks for everything."

Reyna: "At first, I thought you were an enemy, but you are not. Stay strong-willed and wise."

Aphrodite: "Just like my daughter, I wish you true passionate love in her beautiful life. Well, there will be trials and such, not exactly tragic-" *She earned a glare from Athena. "Whoops, ignore the tragic thing, dear."

Artemis: "Well, I object. I hope you get to be a maiden and serve nature, but be able to achieve your dreams first. You are a true heroine to your studies and beliefs." *she earned a glare from Aphrodite but an approving nod from Athena.

Annabeth almost cried at the great things her friends had said. She swore to herself she will never forget this day, but she was still hoping that that one guy will come tonight. _Like a prince at the end of the night, _she thought deep inside.

It was time for the eighteen roses. The more anticipated time by the crowd or the boys. All the songs were slow, or her dad might have kick it up a notch? Annabeth was starting to get nervous because Luke hasn't come yet, but the activity should should start, nevertheless.

Fredrick Chase: *Dance with my Father playing* Obviously, Annabeth got teary-eyed even the song hasn't gotten to the chorus. Everyone cheered as our wise girl hugged her father while dancing, and he whispered, "Happy birthday, Annabeth. I love you so much." He said more that made Annabeth sobb, but not to the point she cried.

Grover: *reed pipes playing* he dance like a Scottish guy would. The audience howled in excitement , making Annabeth laugh.

The other guys: Beckendorf, Will, Lee, Malcom, Jake, and other friends and relatives gave normal performances.

Travis: *Young, Wild and Free playing* Before our dear Travis gave the rose to our debutant, he grabbed along some champagne. Annabeth gave a bored expression at Travis, knowing what he will do. Of course, Travis made an eruption. Most of them have gone the good version of being wild. Annabeth shook her head in delight.

Connor: *Saxobeat playing* Connor went wild in his choreography. And when they mean wild, it is what you see a monkey going crazy. However, Connors steps were cute. Everyone laughed as he made Annabeth do a spin, and made her hit him using the bouquet of flowers she acquired earlier. Unfortunate for Connor, the roses were not thorn-less. Luckily, not much damage and enjoyment was obtain and decreased, respectively.

Leo: *some crazy frog song playing* To crazy and awesome to describe. Everyone gone wild at his number.

Jason: *slow dance song* Before he got to the dance floor, he slipped because of Travis's "champagne" number.

Nico: *whip your hair* "What the HADES?"

"Just do it!" Travis screamed in delight. And yeah, he just did it. Very epic!

It was time for the 18th rose. Everyone practically knew Luke was her last rose, so they waited for him to show up. After two minutes, no sandy-haired guy came, but only a guy wearing a mask walking to her hesitantly.

"Our 18th Rose!" The EMCEE introduces as the boy gave her the rose. He was tall, had messy hair jet black hair, a well-built body, green eyes and his outfit was of a waiter. The ones taking care of the catering. Annabeth became disappointed at this, they made her dance with a waiter on her special day.

The song started playing. (Please play the song Terrified by Kathrine Mcphee you can imagine how cool it is while reading the next part of the story)

He gave out his hand and Annabeth involuntarily placed hers. His hand was warm, making her skin tingle against his. The guy placed his other hand just right at her waist, and they started moving with the music.

At first, Annabeth kept thinking about why Luke hadn't come, but she left it aside. Why not give this guy a chance?

Annabeth didn't look into his eyes until she stumbled due to her heels. She didn't broke her face, causing her to make eye contact with the boy. There she found out that the guy's eyes were not just only green. They were sea-green. It reminded her of the beautiful vast ocean.

It is as if time itself stood still, the mysterious waiter caught her before she could fall again. Looking deeper into her eyes, the guy blushed, making Annabeth smile.

"I'm sorry they made you do this."

Shocked as if she knew what's going. The guy nodded as they swayed. After all, she is correct. He was ordered to dance in the absence of the guy who was supposed to be the last rose.

"I wasn't going to do it," he smiled a little, not removing his eyes on her.

Hearing this, Annabeth became disappointed. Not sure why. She didn't even know him, and why in Hades does she feel anxious towards the fact he originally doesn't want to dance.

Noticing she wasn't looking at him anymore, he spoke up. "Until I saw how wonderful you are. I just want to do it. Not because to save you from embarrassment or to fill in for the other guy."

Annabeth, still not looking, smiled subconsciously.

The guy with the mask moved them to the left, and made her spin. He was not even attacked by her roses, making the audience clap.

"Do you have a good memory?" Annabeth asked, looking at his sea-green eyes and moving closer.

"It depends," he chuckled. There faces were inches apart now.

"Well, get ready and memorize," Annabeth's hands moved to his neck while his moved to her waist.

"Alright. Hit me."

Annabeth laughed at his cockiness. "0219-86011-143"

Picking it up quickly, he got it memorized: he winked victoriously.

Annabeth smirked at this, knowing he did a great job. "I am happy that I am dancing with you right now," she quickly added.

"Really?" The guy's smile was growing bigger.

"Yeah,"

"Why?"

"I do not know, exactly," she said, caressing his mask.

"You want to remove it?" As if the audience heard their conversation. Travis shouted to take his mask off. Truly, majority agreed, wanting to see his face.

Annabeth didn't say anything but nodded, feeling her cheeks burn in excitement.

With no further ado, he removed it, revealing a face that made Annabeth gaze at him. His face is never for a waiter. He was like a hero: kind, brave, and righteous. His eyes match his face well. She easily thought he was a good-looking guy.

He sighed in relief as he throws the mask to Travis. "I got a better view on you." He said it like she was a beautiful sunset, being viewed at a balcony.

Annabeth turned speechless. She had to say something to fight the butterflies in her stomach. "Masks are not a requirement."

"Masks are not prohibited either." Annabeth shook her head. Not in anger or annoyance, but in shock. No one ever out-refuted against her and won.

"By the way, what is your name?" He eagerly asked.

"I can't also believe you do not know my name. It was mentioned several or most of the time in this occasion." To her surprise, she was supposed to be angry but she wasn't.

Annabeth was smiling.

"Oh right. Annabeth Chase. A great name for you, Wise Girl."

Annabeth's smile grew bigger. "And yours, Seaweed Brain?"

He flinched at the name she had made for him. Seaweed Brain? How did she know he loved anything in the ocean? "Do you know I love the ocean? Anyway, the name is Percy. Percy Jackson. Not Seaweed Brain," he quickly corrected with a big grin on his face.

"Fine," she muttered. "Nice to meet you," she smiled. Her gray eyes, that were intimidated him at first, were now the best color he saw tonight.

"How much time do I have?"

"About a few seconds," Annabeth immediately calculated. "Why? Got anything to say?"

"Well," he stammered. "I am not good with speeches,"

"I don't care," she said bluntly as Percy made her spin twice. After a fast spin, Percy caught her like a professional dancer. "Go," she mouthed.

"Even though we just met. I just wanted to say that you are beautiful and awesome tonight. Happy Birthday, Annabeth," Percy's sea-green eyes were glued to her grey ones. Subconsciously, Percy made them back to their standing position. "I want you to have all the things you are dreaming of. Be happy and always persevere, because I believe wits isn't enough. Tonight, dancing with you is a great honor. I hope we become friends, and I will never forget this night, ever! Oh yeah! I got a crush on you since I first saw you."

Before Annabeth could speak, the emcee called out that was the end of the eighteen roses. Percy couldn't stay any longer, because people were drawn to them. He left the dance floor without another word, but with a smile, hoping they will meet again.

Annabeth gave a face that said: _You made my night the best one. Even it was for a few minutes. I am not by the way terrified, and we will become friends...soon._

Before Percy could leave the area, and back to food duty, Annabeth ran to him and hugged him so tight. Astonished by her act, he hugged her back, kissing her hair.

And with that, the program just went on, without Percy and Annabeth seeing each other for the second time. Who knows? Maybe Percy did memorized her number. Annabeth swore to herself that throwing a debut was her best decision yet. Gladly, her parents push through to their idea.

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Here are the A/N:

*I didn't write excatly all 18 candles/roses.

*I didn't put what excatly happened in her debut

*They are not demigods, if they were, she should've met Percy before she was 18.

*Athena&Fedrick are not married

*I hope you timed the song with the dancing part of Percabeth

*Luke didn't attend because of the championships

*Percy is a waiter in this story

Did the Author's Notes disappoint you? I am sorry. I need to be a bit practical and unique in this sorry. Any suggestions or if you want a two-shot? Please review. If I get 20 and more reviews, I'll do it.


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